Football isn’t like any other job. For some reason, Rovers fans seem to think that our club should offer managers and players something that no other professional club in the world offers: blind loyalty.

It’s a good point about the ST “value”. However, If people start to think that they can go to 16 x £25 games then the likely response from “the club” will be to further increase walk-on prices and surcharges. Got to make those STs seem like good value somehow! Impossible to vote in a poll until prices are published though.

It won’t be pleasant though!

We’ve only lost 4 home games...

Thing is people do seem to belittle anyone who shows concern. They take a goldfish view of each game in isolation. Lose one and “here come the Mowbray Out numpties” (rinse and repeat after each defeat) Lose four in a row and “Trust Mowbray FFS” Draw the fifth game and “he is building slowly” Win one and “where we all the haters now?” If it wasn’t for a great run in January, we would be in real trouble right now, such is our inconsistency. In particular, our away form is of most concern. It doesn’t matter who we play, we are second best. Four away wins all season - when Dack is taken out as a threat, or loses form, we are impotent. Clubs have worked us out. If Dack wasn’t our golden ticket in terms of a transfer fee, we should be benching him for Rothwell or even Reed for away games. The power of the transfer fee! Mowbray needs to get a grip of things, take responsibility and stop blaming the players while continuing to pick the same ones. A cautionary note, which somebody posted on Fb earlier... Birmingham were 14th with 43 points and escaped on the final day on goal difference, thanks to a gimme match against Huddersfield after 10 games without a win. We are 17th with 44. Who will be our Huddersfield?

If he had continued the rebuild in January then I’d be more inclined to be patient with him. However, he did not do so when he had the opportunity (open window and money to spend). In fact, he did the exact opposite by loaning out defenders, and now he had begun a narrative of blaming the players. This does not feel like a gradual build but a stagnation. I think Mowbray has taken this club as far as he can and we will now watch him try to flog a dead horse. His loyalty, to players like Smallwood - as well as his coaching staff will be his undoing. There looks to be no imagination, no energy, no belief. We look second best in every game and we seem to be back to the bad old days of Bowyer looking st every other team as a threat to be countered rather than plotting a way to win. Yet the teams he picks leak goal after goal. Yesterday took 2 minutes!

The defensive situation should have been dealt with in January and we don’t have any alternative to Raya because our number two was recruited because it allowed us to postpone games during the international break last season. Downing should have stayed and Wharton groomed for the first team. Plus, what on Earth has happened with Reed. This group have had too long already to prove themselves and not recruiting well in the last two windows means a huge overhaul is now required in the Summer. Then they’ll need half a season to gel! We are behind were we should be and we are now hoping to stay up rather than building on last season’s momentum. On and off the field.

We lost - and conceded three - against... Rotherham. Stop the season I want to get off.

We still have Nobbers, Trotters and the Pie Eaters to face. The thought of losing those three games, let alone surrendering, fills me with dread. Tony needs to show something against them - as a minimum - but I don’t think he knows what his best team is still.

Despite his set piece options, I think Mulgrew is past his sell-by date or he is carrying an injury. Can’t believe anyone thinks we shouldn’t have bought a defender in January. I honestly think that Mowbray has lost the respect of the players. Holiday camp mentality and tactically inept. “Well the players wanted to try something else so we gave it a go”. Lovely bloke but lovely blokes do not good managers make. He needs to change his back room team and quickly - or...

We are useless ?

No way!

They’ll be naming that stand after him yet!

Another few games and we might have something to play for! 11 points clear and 11 games left. Lost to Reading in the bottom three and losing to another one. Anyone know what this is:

He’ll be getting subbed soon then.

At this point TM has got a free pass. No pressure, no promotion expectation, not even play-off hopeful expectations. Already, after only 2 minutes, he needs the thing he has struggled to find in all his time with us: a Plan B.

2 effing minutes!??

Woooosh!

Facebook click bait Headline teaser Manager spin Truth

I lay the blame for that being successful squarely with Waggott. Under his stewardship we’ve stopped trying to attract new fans and simply milked the existing ones - trying to force people to buy by punitive measures and guilt trips. Surcharges vs No-charge-shirts He failed to capitalise on the feelgood factor by having a well priced ST (£249 / £279) on sale at the Oxford game. £70 less than the actual early bird price (£319 / £349). Accounting for kids at £60, how many full paying adults do we have? Let’s say for argument’s sake it’s 10,000. That’s £700k difference between £3.49m and £2.79m. Assuming no increase in attendance. If we’d have got 2,500 more fans we’d have broke even and had a fuller ground. There were 27,600 fans there for the Oxford game. That’s 15,000 who don’t attend regularly - or at all. We needed to entice 1 in 6 of those people. We didn’t try very hard at all, really. Just shephered them out of the ground and demanded their commitment when we could finally be bothered to put them on sale the following week in a “buy before we increase prices” strategy.

That’s a roundabout way that’s saying Kean is a better manager than Mowbray! In truth, it shows just how badly our squad has been dismantled while so many others have grown stronger. And yet there are some teams in this division that are punching above their weight more than us, but due to lack of managerial nouse, loss of fitness and absence of a well organised defence we are currently lagging behind. Mowbray and his coaching staff need to do far, far better - especially if they are relying on the players for ideas.

Just remember, as far as they are concerned the FF members don’t represent fans. They represent themselves, are not elected, and are therefore not accountable to anyone. If you want to change that, or ask any uncomfortable questions, you need to join the FF - or hope that someone on the FF shares your view. I expect the club believe they are speaking with a representative group though.

Agree completely. And yet Rovers (under Waggott) are doing the exact opposite.

Pretty sure that the powers that be see free or cheap tickets as ‘devaluing the product’. Which has been the rhetoric of some of the long standing fans closest to the club for a wee while. Only problem is that increasing prices isn’t increasing the value of the product. “Early bird ST” = “we are raising the price but if you buy early you will be getting a better deal” ”Higher walk on prices” = “get a season ticket or pay for 1875 club membership to get a reduction” ”Surcharge” = “buy early or join the 1875 club and you get it cheaper” ”Club cash” = “we’ve increased shirt prices but we’ll sell it to you at the old price if you by ST or 1875” These are the kind of things that are being touted as “offers” while we’ve basically watched a L1 team in the Championship all season. Meanwhile... 18,000 empty seats.